Bulldogs sweep No. 16 Pearl River

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast got two comeback wins over a top-20 opponent, the Bulldogs' archrival, on Wednesday, finishing off a brutal three-doubleheader stretch against ranked teams.

Gulf Coast beat No. 16 Pearl River 9-7 in the first game and 2-1 with a walk-off win in the second. Madison Laiche threw a four-hitter in the nightcap, with Emma Thomson delivering a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

"They're just very resilient," Gulf Coast coach David Kuhn said. "That was a fearless effort. We stayed poised and had some really good at-bats and competed all day long. I'm proud of them."

The Bulldogs improved to 32-15 overall and 13-9 in MACCC play. They're tied for sixth with East Central, needing to get into the top five to avoid a postseason play-in game.

Madison Laiche (Fr., Luling, La./John Curtis) used her screwball and changeup to keep Pearl River (30-13, 14-6) off balance. She gave up a solo home run in the third. The Wildcats had a double and a couple of walks, but Laiche (5-3) didn't walk or hit anybody.

"I knew my defense had my back," she said. "I was trying to hit my spots, and my outfielders and infielders were awesome. We got outs when we needed to get outs."

Baleigh Tullos (Fr., Hurley/East Central) tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth. The Bulldogs had runners at the corners with one out in the inning but couldn't get anything else across, leaving it for the seventh inning.

Brooklyn Mitchell (Fr., Gulfport/St. Patrick) singled with one out, and Caroline Batson (Fr., Wiggins/Stone) beat out an infield single to put runners at the corners with two outs.

Thomson lashed a single over the shortstop's head to end it.

"I just wanted to score (pinch runner Annaston) Tate," she said. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. They believed in me and tried to calm me down."

Batson had three hits, including a double, and Mitchell singled twice.

The Bulldogs trailed 4-0 before they ever came to the plate in the opener, but Savannah Wilbanks (So., Southaven/DeSoto Central) trimmed the deficit in half with a two-run double in the bottom of the first.

Abby Lindsey (Fr., Decatur, Ala./Austin) singled in two runs in the second to tie it up, but a two-run homer in the third put PRCC back in front.

In the fourth, Tullos singled in a run, and Batson's grounder forced an error that tied it at 6. Thomson followed with a two-run double.

The Bulldogs scored an insurance run in the fifth on a first-and-third play, and Karley Rouse (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) buckled down and allowed just a seventh-inning run to improve to 15-5. She struck out five.

Irina Sanford (So., Lucedale/George County) had three hits.

Gulf Coast had split against then-No. 3 Jones and then-No. 8 Northwest Mississippi in their previous gamedays.

"It's huge," Kuhn said. "We've been hovering in sixth, seventh, eighth for so long. To win four of our last six is huge especially against a really good team like Pearl River. My goodness, those are good wins."

Gulf Coast's Thursday doubleheader against Coahoma has been canceled. The Bulldogs will celebrate Sophomore Day and Military + First Responders Appreciation Day against East Central next Wednesday.

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